


The Barista

by silent_bard



Category: Star Wars Legends: Outbound Flight - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, because why not, no beta or edits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:27:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23749936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silent_bard/pseuds/silent_bard
Summary: Thrawn stops off at his favorite coffee shop after work
Relationships: Ar'alani/Karyn Faro, Thrass | Mitth'ras'safis/Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	The Barista

**Author's Note:**

> Re-reading some of chaos_monkey's amazing Thrass/Thrawn works inspired me, and I ended up with a coffee shop AU when I should be trying to sleep.

Thrawn smiled as his favourite coffee shop came into view. Nestled snugly between a used bookstore and a record store on a busy street in downtown Csaplar, The Little Corner Shop was bustling from opening until closing most days. The coffee and confectioneries were part of the reason. To say theirs was the best coffee in the city was not idle boast. The other part of the shop's popularity rested solely in its beautiful co-owners. The two behind the counter brought customers in left and right.

Ar'alani broke more than a few hearts each day with her wedding ring and aloof attitude. Regulars knew not to bother with trying to woo her away from her fair-haired wife. Those two were thick as thieves, and had the kind of relationship that could weather any storm. New customers learned quickly enough, too.

Personally, Thrawn found it amusing to watch Ar'alani rebuff customers in her no-nonsense way. He and Ar'alani had been friends since third grade, and her wife, Karyn, was a trusted colleague. But that wasn't what brought Thrawn in here so often. No. Thrawn came in to attempt to win the favor of the man next to Ar'alani.

It was a fun game. He came in most evenings after work and a quick bite to eat, and stayed until closing. He would try to win the man's attention, though the competition could make it difficult.

Walking in, he saw that tonight would be no different. His favourite barista was surrounded by beautiful men and women from the local college, all trying to catch his eye.

He could hardly move from one side of the bar to the other without five different people trying their damnedest to start a conversation. Thrawn entered the line to order, smirking at the dance playing out.

His barista would take the next cup in line, ignore the next question or comment, make the drink, ignore the next comment or question, call the name, make a few seconds of small talk with the drink's owner, and start it all again as he reached for the next cup. Always the same. Ar'alani was just as good at it, but she wasn't as graceful about making drinks. A close second, certainly, just not _quite_ as good.

Watching his barista was always the best part of waiting in line. The way he ground and tamped the beans. Adding whatever flavourings were asked for to the cup with lightening fast precision. The way he bit his lower lip just a little as he steamed the milk to frothy perfection. The line of his wrist as he created a leaf or a heart or some other perfect foam art on the top of each drink. He wanted to lick that wrist, hold it down while he worked the man higher...

Thrawn shook his head clear as Ar'alani yelled at him. "Stop staring at guys and give me your order!" Her red eyes were sparkling with amusement. "Blushing does not suit you."

That only made Thrawn blush harder. He was normally more careful about his observations. "You already know my order," he said, handing Ar'alani money.

She snorted. "As long as spend here wasting precious table space every night, you should be paying twice this much."

"If you wish. The coffee and service are certainly worth it."

"They are," she said, tossing a cup in the line on the counter and yelling for the next customer.

Thrawn laughed and took up his usual spot at the bar. It was perfect as he had plenty of room for his laptop and files, and it gave him a side long view of the baristas' work space. He could watch his man work all night, and talk to him every time he walked the few steps over to call out a drink.

He had just set up his makeshift office when a drink appeared in front of his face. "One macchiato."

Thrawn smiled as he took the drink. "I like the new hairstyle," he said.

The barista flipped his long braid from one shoulder to the other. "Ar'alani complained about my hair getting in everything, and it _is_ long enough for this I suppose."

"It suits you."

"Hmm. We'll see." With that he walked off, leaving Thrawn's little world just a touch colder. It warmed up pretty quickly again as he saw a thirties-something man with blond hair leaning halfway across the counter to talk with the barista. He briefly wondered if he could get away with dragging him out by his hoodie.

The irritating blonde, Ronan according to the name called for his double shot with foam, sat next to Thrawn and pretended to work on a screenplay. He was very vocal about this, touting his skills to their barista every chance he got. Judging from the few lines Thrawn could see, he wasn't very good. Of course, his judgment may be somewhat clouded at the moment.

The next hour went by quickly as the two men jostled for the barista's attention. Both were equally ignored, but the man did seem to take a great deal of pleasure in their little battle.

The battle ended rather abruptly when a man with skin just a few shades darker than Thrawn's stormed in.

"You haven't answered a single text in the last hour, and when I find you, you're here flirting with _him_ ," he said in a pompous voice. "We have reservations at the best restaurant in the city in fifteen minutes."

"We do?" Ronan squeaked. "But... I thought... After last time.. You said..." He finally gave up, clearly not finding the right words.

"Put your things away. We're leaving. Now."

"Formbi," the barista said with a slight nod.

"Thrass," Formbi growled.

"Those two never did get along well." Thrawn almost jumped. Almost. Ar'alani was one of the few capable of sneaking up on him. She tossed a towel on the counter. "Tell your brother I'm leaving. I cleaned the lobby, got most of the dishes washed, and swept and mopped the back." She smiled as Karyn walked in, a short, brown haired man trailing behind her.

"Hey, Thrawn," Karyn said. "We're going out for drinks. Care to join us?" She nodded a little too obviously at the man before introducing him. "This is Eli from accounting. He's fairly new. Thought we could show him around town, get to _know_ him."

Thrawn sighed. Another attempt? At least he was cute in a not too overbearing way. The last two she'd tried to set him up with had not been. Orson had been a jerk with a very high opinion of himself, and Balanhai, while interesting, just wasn't his type. Too involved with his craft to pay attention to anything else. This one by contrast seemed shy and more than a little nervous. He had to admit it was tempting, but he had other plans tonight.

"I'm afraid I have too much work to catch up on tonight," he said, noting Eli's crestfallen expression, "but I am available tomorrow night."

Eli looked down at this shoes, blushing.

Karyn was practically over the moon. "Great!" she beamed. "It's a date." She turned to Eli. "Still want to hang out with us?"

"Yeah. If you don't mind?" he asked, looking between the two women.

Ar'alani raised an eyebrow at her wife, who just shrugged in response. This was their usual date night. "We would not mind," Ar'alani said a little begrudgingly. They left just as Formbi and Ronan did, though they certainly looked happier than the two men.

Thrass looked at the clock. "Ten minutes to closing. Mind watching the counter while I clean up?" He flashed a smile at Thrawn. "If you can tear yourself away from your work, that is."

Thrawn threw the cloth Ar'alani left at him, and let him know what she had said. His eyes lingered perhaps a little too long on Thrass's retreating backside as he disappeared behind the back of house door.

In exactly ten minutes, Thrawn locked up, put his things away, and called for Thrass to hurry up. His brother could be overly meticulous about cleaning some nights.

It took another half hour for Thrass to finally finish up, only coming up front to take apart and clean the machines and grab dirty dishes. Thrawn helped himself to a cheese danish and counted out the drawer while he waited. The less Thrass had to do the better.

Thrass walked up front, leaning against the counter next to Thrawn, and reached up to undo his braid. Thrawn laid a hand over Thrass's. "Don't," he said with a wink. "I have plans for that tonight."

"Do you?"

Thrawn leaned over and kissed Thrass. Thrass pulled away quickly, his cheeks gong slightly purple. "Not here," he said, glancing at the windows. "Someone might see."

"Fine," Thrawn purred. "You'd better make the wait to walk all the way home first worth it then." He gave the braid a playful tug as they stepped out into the warm night air.


End file.
